CHAPTER I

THE PREPARATION FOR EMPIRE

THE SPREAD OF THE British Empire begins with the permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. With each succeeding century the Empire has expanded, with the single exception of the closing years of the eighteenth century, when the American colonies were lost. To-day, it is one of the great dominating forces of the world. The War of 1914 has demonstrated more than ever its power and its adaptability to new needs and conditions. As one endeavors to appraise its possibilities, a review of the growth of Greater Britain serves to furnish the key to motive and the secrets of successful expansion. It is a fascinating study, this extension of England beyond the seas; it has all the attractiveness and swing of a cosmic epic. In order that we may understand the settlement of Jamestown and all that follows, a preliminary survey must needs be made of the growth of English unity at home, of this composite product called an Englishman, of the institutions developed during the Middle Ages and the early modern period that gave a beneficent as well as a powerful quality to English endeavor.

One of the remarkable traits of the inhabitants of the British Isles has been their genius for colonizing, their adaptability to new conditions. The process of joining races and of forming a composite capable of such accomplishment has been in progress during the whole of British history. It is sometimes forgotten that the Britisher of modern times is a mixture of numerous racial elements. The earliest inhabitants of Britain of whom anything at all definite is known were probably akin to the Basques. These people, sometimes called Iberian, controlled the islands in the New Stone Age. Following them, the Celts began to occupy the British Isles in the Bronze Age. The Celts came in at least two waves: the Goidelic Celts, whose descendants live with the least intermixture in the Highlands of Scotland, on the Isle of Man, and in Ireland; and the Brythonic Celts, who are represented today by the Welsh and the Cornishmen. Each new wave of invading people tended to push farther westward or mountain-ward the preceding groups. There was probably some amalgamation of conquerors and conquered, but it is very difficult to say to what extent it took place. It is important to note, however, that when the Romans came to Britain in 55 B.C. the people of the British Isles were already of mixed stock.

The Romans stayed for about four hundred years. They built great roads, reared defensive walls in northern England against the wild and unconquered inhabitants of Scotland, and established Roman customs and civilization. But the pressure of the barbarian tribes on the Roman Empire in the fifth century compelled the transfer of the troops in Britain to more important points of defense. When the island was evacuated in the fifth century, relatively few traces of the Roman occupation were left to the succeeding centuries. This was largely owing to the almost immediate conquest of the island by new and uncultured races. About 450 A.D., the Jutes landed on the island of Thanet, off the coast of Kent. They came from the northeast and were Teutonic in race, and with them began numerous movements of Teutonic groups into the island. The Jutes occupied Kent; the Saxons settled in Surrey, Sussex, Wessex, and Middlesex; the Angles conquered the east and north of England, including East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia. In this way there was added another distinct stock to form the composite Britisher.

By the end of the seventh century the Anglo-Saxons had conquered most of England. Out of the chaos of small kingdoms there grew overlordships, and the dominance was held first by one strong kingdom and then by another. Finally it rested in the southwest kingdom of Wessex. Hardly had Egbert, the ruler of Wessex, assured his overlordship when he was troubled by the beginning of the Danish invasions. By the term “Dane” is meant not only the inhabitant of Denmark, but of Scandinavia as a whole. In the ninth century there seems to have been a tendency to unify the rule of the Scandinavian countries, and this had led to the migration of dissatisfied Northmen to Greenland, Iceland, Russia, France, and the British Isles. These fierce sea-rovers became a distinct menace for several centuries. Alfred the Great, who ruled Wessex at the close of the ninth century, spent most of his time opposing them. It proved impossible to drive them away, and finally they occupied the northeastern part of England, which, in consequence, came to be known as the “Danelaw.” Thus a new racial group was added to the mixture of peoples in England. Danish invasions were renewed at the opening of the eleventh century, and resulted in the actual conquest and rule of the country by the kings of Denmark.

With the coming of William the Conqueror from Normandy in 1066, another strain was added to the English stock. It is true that the Normans were descendants of the Norsemen who had occupied northern France when England was suffering a like invasion. In the intervening centuries Latin culture and refinement had been acquired by the Normans. They served, in consequence, to connect the developing England with the older civilizations of southern Europe, and their language, Norman-French, brought with it new legal ideas and governmental conceptions. After a long period of struggle between the two cultures, a gradual amalgamation took place, which was well advanced by the end of the reign of Henry II (1189). The new contribution added by the Normans had become an integral part of the evolving English type.

The value of racial origins can be overemphasized very easily. It appears to be true that an individual is very largely influenced by his cultural environment. But it is surely worth while to realize that the Englishman of later centuries was produced from a blending of peoples, a process not unlike that going on to-day in the Western Hemisphere and in many British colonies. Yet it must be remembered that this mixture of racial groups in England has not been pronounced since the twelfth century, as the island was never successfully attacked after the days of William the Conqueror. Peaceful immigrations, such as the coming of the Flemish workmen in the late Middle Ages and of the Huguenots in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, have been of minor importance. Because the blending of peoples in the British Isles took place so long ago, the cultural influences known as British have extended to all classes of the population, giving to the national development a conscious cultural and historical unity. The various races forming the national type were admirably adapted to the daring work of mastering the sea and of empire-building, for they were lovers of the sea and conquerors. Added to this is the fact that the British Isles, in physical character and location, were peculiarly fitted to become the seat of empire, as they had formerly been the object of venturesome, sea-roving invasion.

The earlier history of England is concerned not only with racial combination. For centuries the unification of the British Isles occupied the chief attention of the rulers. Only when the islands forming Great Britain were conquered, could England look beyond to empire.

Until the time of the Normans, England was the extent of the conquered territory. With the strong hand of William the Conqueror holding in no uncertain grasp the control of English affairs, the subjugation of neighboring territory was undertaken. William established palatine earldoms along the Welsh and Scottish frontiers. Toward the close of his reign he even invaded Scotland and Wales, but this by no means meant a complete or permanent conquest of these neighbors. Yet Henry I, his son, compelled Malcolm of Scotland to do homage, and he also completed the conquest of South Wales. The period of anarchy, known as the reign of Stephen, made it necessary to do the work over again, Henry II (1154-1189) was even ambitious enough to attack Ireland. Strongbow and other adventurers set up a feudal control in the western island, and the King went there in person to assure a mastery of these vassals. Henry II took the title “Lord of Ireland,” being the first English ruler to be master, in the vague feudal sense, of the British islands. The reign of this King was noteworthy for the empire he established; it comprised not only Great Britain but many territories on the Continent. All western France was subject to him from Ponthieu on the north to Gascony in the south. By advantageous marriages of his children and by constant wars he endeavored to hold together this “Angevin Empire.” His life was one of continual military activity, mostly on the Continent; had he not been of almost superhuman energy and ability, the incongruous combination would not have lasted so long as it did. He never spoke the English language, and his interests were more continental than insular. England was really but part of a foreign empire.

The loss of most of the continental possessions by John Lackland in the opening years of the thirteenth century was fortunate for the growth of English unity. The country became more isolated, foreign influence was gradually expelled, and internal problems were given more attention. Great Britain, however, was not yet ready to think of empire. Edward I (1272-1307) gave much of his attention to the conquest of Wales. His son, Edward II, who was born at Carnarvon, was made Prince of Wales, and the title has henceforth been used to designate the heir to the throne. Edward I also fought hard to establish English rule in Scotland. He was partially successful when Balliol was made King of Scotland under terms that made him the vassal...